House fire in Child Street remains under investigation; at least 3 people injured

ROCHESTER, NY — News10NBC is working to obtain more information on the condition of a firefighter and two other people injured when a home on Child Street caught fire.

The Rochester Fire Department had not released any updates as of 11 p.m., but News10NBC saw the coroner’s truck on scene and very upset people, some carrying flowers and hugging each other. The fire broke out Wednesday afternoon.

Firefighters at the scene told News10NBC that it was a house fire and that crews were on the scene within three minutes. RFD Chief Stefano Napolitano said the size of the house and the temperatures made fighting the fire difficult. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Da’Siah White says he was coming home from a basketball game with his friend and was walking to his car on Child Street when he saw smoke in the air and then flames shooting out of the house. As he got closer, he heard a woman screaming.

“She just said, ‘My grandma, my grandma, she’s upstairs,'” White said.

White said his first instinct was to run in and help. “We came out like we were superheroes to save the situation. But that’s not what happened. We felt the pressure and we backed away – actually, we backed away immediately,” he said.

White said two minutes later, he saw dozens of police officers, firefighters and AMR ambulances surrounding the house. “My heart was pounding – I was scared for her because I didn’t want anything to happen to the grandmother,” he said.

“When you were across the street, it felt like you were inside,” White said of the fire’s intense heat.

Although the coroner’s car was seen at the scene, Napolitano would not confirm whether anyone died in the fire. He did say, however, that people were injured inside the home.

“We have two injured civilians and a firefighter is being taken to the hospital with a fire-related injury,” Napolitano said.

Napolitano says when crews arrived on scene, flames were already blazing from the house and were intense. “The front of the building was heavily affected by the fire – it’s a one-and-a-half story wood frame building – the porch was fully engulfed in flames, the upstairs bedroom was fully engulfed in flames,” he said.

Andrew Trammell, a neighbor, was driving home with his family when he saw smoke. Police tape prevented him from driving down Child Street. He says all the activity frightened his children.

“When my kids see something like this, they ask, ‘Dad, what’s going on? What’s happening, are they OK?’ It would make anyone nervous if there was a fire and you didn’t know if they were OK,” Trammell said.

The Red Cross is supporting the adults and children who were in the house.

This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.

AI helped format this story. Click here to see how WHEC News 10 uses AI

6pm broadcast: